Our Fitness Blog

How Committed Are You?

You have set some big goals for yourself, well done. You have these goals written down and you have shared them with someone. This is great, as this will increase your accountability, which will lead to greater success. You are well on your way. Now it is time to ask someone a very important question. Who is that someone? That someone is you. Stand in front of a mirror and ask that person staring back at you, "how committed are you?"

One of the biggest keys to achieving our goals and achieving success is to be sure that the scales are balanced. And we are talking about the scales that measure goals we set versus our commitment level. Setting a huge goal that is a true dream come true, is great…If and only if the commitment level matches the goal set. We want our goals to be big of course but we also want them to be realistic and achievable. We want to set ourselves up for success. All too often, individuals create unnecessary frustration for themselves when it comes to achieving their goals. Why? It's pretty simple, it's because their commitment level did not match their goals.

Here's a great example of a goal an individual set for himself or herself. "Rick, my goal is to lose 60 pounds of body fat and I want to look very lean. I am so tired of being overweight. I will do whatever it takes to make this happen." Goals like this are tremendous. And, how encouraging that this individual says, "I will do whatever it takes"; that sounds like a recipe for success right there. But, here was the next statement by this individual. "I just want to let you know, I typically have at least one glass of wine each night, and I refuse to give that up. Also, I really enjoy my weekends as this is the time when my friends and I go out and we really enjoy eating and drinking."

My response to this individual was this, "That's perfectly fine that you refuse to give those things up. But as a result, you just have to be okay with being overweight." This person's response, as you can imagine, was the following, "but I'm not okay with being overweight." This is a perfect time to look in the mirror and ask, ‘How committed are you?’

This is one of many great examples that show how out of balance the scale is at this point. The goal (losing 60 pounds of body fat) is a very big goal but the commitment level (I refuse to give up my wine each night and I refuse to give up the eating and drinking with my friends on the weekend) does not match. In every aspect of life, we cannot put in a little and expect to get out a lot. At this stage, this individual has to make a choice because something has to change so that we can create a successful and positive feedback. Because if we move forward with this goal and this commitment level, what is going to happen? Well, it's pretty obvious; this individual is not going to achieve anywhere near the goals they set for themselves and therefore, they may become increasingly frustrated. We want to decrease frustration and increase success. And the way to do this is to balance the scales.

This individual has to either change/decrease the goal or increase the commitment level. Here's what I want each individual to understand. Changing and/or decreasing a goal is not a sign of failure, not even close. Rather, this is a sign of "know thyself" and changing/decreasing the goal will help to create a successful and positive feedback loop and this is a good thing. Goals like this and commitment levels like this are very common. Often times, individuals feel that if they just "work out more and work out harder" they can then buffer the effects of the eating and drinking and still achieve that amazingly lean, well muscled physique.

Now, here’s the catch. If this person does in fact decrease the goal, guess what? Well, the have to accept the fact that they will be overweight and there is no whining, no complaining and no excuses, make sense? Remember, we have to balance the scales for success. If eating and drinking for this person takes precedence over the body fat loss goal, that’s fine. This person just has to accept the consequences that come with this choice. Are you ok with this? If so, great; if not, then change the commitment level.

It can be common for individuals to look at those who are very lean and well muscled as "lucky." And, for the outsider looking in, it may even look easy to become lean and well muscled. Those individuals that have a ton of success in terms of achieving a very lean and well-muscled physique make it look easy. Most individuals that are super-successful in any facet of life make it look easy. But what individuals don't see is the time, effort, energy, commitment, sacrifice and desire every minute of every day that goes into this formula of success for these individuals. Point being, success is no accident, it’s a lifestyle of the highest level of commitment (Big Goals AND BIG Commitment). Continue to set your goals high and shoot for the stars. At the same time, understand that the bigger the goal, the bigger the commitment level.

Every morning when you wake up and every night when you go to bed, check your own oil. Look into that mirror and ask that individual staring back at you, "how committed are you?" This continued check and balance system will keep you on target and on task and will greatly increase chances of success. As the great saying goes, when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you will then become successful.